Page 16 of Critical Strike

“Now!” Taking advantage of a break in traffic, they ran for it.

Claire kept up, despite her heavy load with the cat. They made it to the divide, then successfully across the other side of the interstate.

Climbing over the low railing between the road and a Laundromat, Luke checked over his shoulder. Still no sign of the attackers.

Which almost felt worse than seeing them would.

If they weren’t in sight, Luke didn’t know where they were, and he liked to always have a target on his enemies.

“Where did you park?” Claire adjusted Khan in her arms as they continued.

“Right up here. Half a block.” Luke pointed. “Let me carry him for a minute.”

She pulled the cat closer. “I don’t think he’ll let you. He’s very protective.”

Luke nodded. Now wasn’t the time to find out. He quickly moved again, keeping her hand tucked in his.

They crossed behind the Laundromat not far from where he’d parked when a gruff male voice from around the corner made them freeze. Luke yanked Claire down with him behind the side of a dumpster.

“Jennings swears he saw two people cross the highway.”

“Jennings also told us she would be in the motel room where she obviously wasn’t,” another man barked back. “Just because we found her car and stuff in the next room doesn’t mean she hadn’t run a long time before we got there.”

Claire let out a low whimper and shrank into herself. Luke put a hand on her arm and pulled her to his side. Their shoulder blades pressed against the hard brick of the Laundromat. The voices had sounded close, real close.

Khan decided he’d had enough of being held. He struggled in Claire’s arms before slipping through her crooked elbow. As Claire gasped, Khan jumped onto a nearby trash can. He didn’t quite make the landing, though, and the can toppled over with a loud crash.

“What was that?” one of the men asked.

Claire reached out for Khan, but Luke wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her back. She loved that cat, but he wasn’t letting her get killed for it. He slid them both farther behind the dumpster, peeking through the crack.

Spooked by the trash can, Khan skirted farther into the parking lot, his tail fluffed out in surprise.

A man laughed and hit the chest of the guy who’d pulled at his gun. “It’s a damn cat. Come on, there’s nobody around here. Let’s check out the parking lot and see if anyone is around.”

Luke stayed flush against the wall with Claire pressed up against him as the men made their way toward the parking lot. With every breath, Claire heaved against him. She’d buried her face in his chest at some point, and one of her hands fisted his shirt.

Heat rushed through Luke and his heart sped up.

Neither physiological response could be completely blamed on the danger they’d just dodged.

“You okay?” he whispered against her hair.

She nodded, then took a step away from him. “Khan. Come here.”

The cat leaped right into her arms, and Luke swore the thing looked sheepish and Claire looked like she was about to lecture the cat about proper behavior.

“Save it,” he whispered, taking her hand once again. “You’ll have to give the cat a time-out after we’re not about to get shot.”

Making it safely to his truck a few minutes later only slightly lessened the adrenaline coursing through Luke’s veins. He gripped the steering wheel tight as they drove out of the city, his gaze raking the road ahead and behind them for any signs of being followed.

Next to him, Claire looked out the window. Her tangled hair fell in front of her face and her shoulders curved forward like she wanted to disappear.

Luke’s chest constricted. He almost didn’t want to say anything or ask details about what was going on. She looked so fragile, like the wrong word might break her into a thousand pieces.

But silence wouldn’t do, either.

“Were you able to get any sleep this afternoon?” he asked as gently as he could.

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